Hard to Choose
by Ellenyx
Summary: A new kid by the name of Sam Gonyeau and his small family move to Little Stempington and somehow manage to keep mostly out of the fray of gang life between Camilla's group and Barbara's. Sadly, Sam doesn't remain completely isolated as he gets tied up with Joyce's son Bill. And Bill doesn't come out of it any less confused when he finds Sam isn't all he's thought to be. Pls Review


**Note: I've had the thought in my mind for a while, I don't even know if this will come out good, I just wanted to write it. Sorry. **

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**Chapter 1**

It was cloudy in Little Stempington, but warm and still as cheerful as it always was even as it threatened to rain. Joyce stood at the kitchen window, muttering lightly to herself as her eyes flitted across the front yard. Jeremy stared at her, drinking his coffee in silence as she scrubbed idly at the same bowl for going on ten minutes now.

"Is everything alright darling?" He questioned, putting his cup down. She stopped, whirling around to look at him as if she had no idea he was going to be there, but smiled.

"Fine." She replied, putting the bowl she was washing in the other side of the sink and working on another. Jeremy stood up, walking over. Putting his cup on the counter he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the side of her neck.

"You seem tense love," he rocked her back and forth, resting his cheek on her head. "I thought we moved to Little Stempington to relax?" He stepped back, allowing her to turn, looking at him. Reaching up she rested her hands on his arms, looking into his eyes almost desperately. She didn't say anything at first, wanting to tell him everything so badly but knew that she couldn't, so instead she just smiled.

"We did, it's just...going to take some time." Kissing him she turned and finished the dishes, rinsing them and putting them up to dry. He looked at her for a moment, a warm smile on his face as he kissed her shoulder, patting his hand on her hip before he made his way to the door, grabbing his coat. "Have a good time a work darling." She called, looking after him. He stopped, looking back at her, his hand on the door knob. "And remember, I love you very much."

"And I love you." He returned, his smile stretching. Pulling the door open he walked out, shutting it tightly behind him. She sighed, watching as he walked out and climbed into his cruiser. After a moment, he was pulling out and heading off, disappearing down the street. Drying her hands off she rested against the sink, her eyes watering as she thought about her life, the stuff she was pulled into and having to lie to her husband about it. "Damn that Camilla," She muttered, a tear hitting her cheek as she hung her head. "Dammit." Pulling away she dragged a sleeved arm across her eye, drying the tear.

Turning she grabbed her coat and her purse, putting them on. Camilla's words lingered in the back of her head from the night before. _Meet, Hilary, Lillian and I, twelve o'clock at the cafe near where the Wicker Barn used to stand, you know the one, don't you? If you're late we'll break your little finger in with a meat tenderizer_.

The threat was real, she knew it was, and she didn't want to have to come up with an excuse as to why her finger was broken, so she had to go. Even if she wanted nothing to do with them. Grabbing her yoga clothes -to make her usual excuse of having to attend yoga more believable- she rolled them up and stuffed them into her purse and slipped out the front door, making sure that all of the appliances were off.

Bill was fixing up his bike in the garage when his mother came out, her purse over her shoulder. He looked up at her curiously as she made her way to her car, looking around cautiously. She had been like this since he showed up, maybe even longer. She acted as if Little Stempington were to just lunge out and attack, he felt sorry for her. "Mum, where you off too?" He questioned, feeling guilty when his calling out made her jump.

"Oh Bill," she laughed lightly, gripping her purse tight. "Just heading to yoga with Camilla then over to the town hall to welcome a new resident whose looking for a new house in the area." She explained.

She hated lying to her son but there was no other way around it, not when her fingerprints were all over that remote control that Camilla had.

"Can I bum a ride off of you? I need to see if there are any stores that have either a replacement chain or some replacement pins for this chain." He stood up, rubbing his hands against his pants.

"O-of course darling." She smiled, hesitantly. She didn't want to, not when she risked getting stopped by Camilla or Barbara. And she certainly didn't want Bill hanging out with Jewel, even though she'd never admit it out loud. Well, there were a lot of things she thought she'd never do that she'd done in the first week of moving to that ghastly, utopian looking town. Blowing up a building and killing a Librarian were two of them.

Walking over he climbed into the passenger seat of the car and buckled up. "Thanks," he smiled, looking at her.

"No problem darling." She returned his smile, putting the car in reverse. Carefully she backed up out of the driveway, making her way downtown. "Did you want me to wait until you were done to give you a ride home?" She questioned, waiting as a couple of teenagers crossed the road, their spirits looking a bit smashed to pieces.

"Oh no, I can walk." He smiled.

"Are you sure?" She looked at him concerned. "I mean it's no trouble."

"Don't you have yoga?" He questioned.

"It doesn't start for an hour, I normally talk with Camilla and warm up in the hour before." She lied. She lied about the whole thing. She did take yoga but only on Wednesdays and Fridays, never on a Thursday because Thursday was lunch with Camilla and her gang and she was looking for every excuse to skip that.

"I mean, if it's no trouble." He replied almost uncertainly.

"Good." She smiled before driving again.

"Is everything ok?" Bill asked after a minute or two of silence, gently picking idly at the seam in the seat. "You've been acting weird." He looked up at her, but all she did was laugh, albeit, a nervous laugh.

"I'm fine. Just a bit stressed. I'm not used to being in a town so friendly." She smiled at him. As she drove they came up on a house, boxes in the front yard and a moving truck. She pulled up, rolling down the window. "Hello." She greeted. A man looked up. He was older, possibly mid to late 40's but stylish with a faux leather jacket and a black long sleeve shirt on underneath. He was attractive with a light dusting of facial hair on his chin and black slightly spiked hair. He was muscular with a square jaw and dark eyes.

"Hello." He walked over, his skin tanned. He smiled, leaning down to look in the car.

"I'm Joyce Hazeldine," she reached over Bill, offering to shake his hand. "I live about a block down from you." She smiled.

"Ah! You're Jeremy's wife?" He questioned, shaking her hand, smiling brightly. "Sorry, kiddo." He patted Bill's shoulder as he pulled his hand back. Bill smiled, expressing silently that he didn't mind it with a wave of his hand.

"Oh you know Jeremy?" She questioned, smiling brightly.

"He welcomed me to the town earlier on his way to work. Nice guy, I'm glad to have him watching our back. Even though it doesn't seem like Little Stempington needs it!" He laughed. She laughed a bit nervously, her heart fluttering as her mind screamed _You don't know!_ "Oh!" He turned, looking at a young boy on the other side of the yard, climbing out of the back of the moving van. "Sam!" He called. The boy looked up confused for a moment. The man signaled him over. Putting the box down Sam made his way over. "This is my kid, Sam." He smiled, clapping his hand on the boys shoulder.

Sam was tanned, slightly reddish skinned with a beanie. His hair was dark red, sticking out a little from the bottom of the hat. He wore a turtle neck like sleeveless shirt and baggy cargo pants. His eyes, however, were hazel. "It's nice to meet you." He greeted, his voice soft and slightly higher pitch for most boys as he reached forward, shaking Joyce's hand then Bill's.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sam, I'm Joyce Hazeldine and this is my son, Bill."

"Nice to meet you." Bill smiled, shaking his hand firmly.

"And I'm sure my dad didn't give you his name." Sam shot, looking back at his dad with a smile. "This is Jenner Gonyeau, my dad."

"Damn, I always forget something don't I?" He laughed. "Sorry about that. You two wouldn't happen to know where the grocery store is do you?"

"Oh, yeah it's just down the street, take a right and keep going. Do you need a ride? I'm heading down that way anyway to get Bill a new bike chain." Joyce smiled, offering. Camilla couldn't get angry if she was welcoming the new resident to the town. Well she could, but not as angry as if she just decided not to go. Maybe she could skip and still keep her pinkies.

"I was just going to send Sam down later." He said, pointing back to the boy.

"I can give him a ride," she insisted, reaching over and pushing a button, the back door sliding open.

"If it's not too much trouble." Jenner smiled, feeling a bit guilty.

"Mom loves bussing people around from place to place," Bill smiled. "She practically lives in this car." Joyce laughed, nodding.

"I do." Smiling Jenner turned and fished his wallet out of his pocket, handing it to Sam.

"Get anything that strikes your fancy." Sam looked at the wallet and nodded, stashing it in one of the many pockets his cargo pants had and turned to climb in but stopped when his father's hand grabbed his arm. "Except spaghetti." He quickly added. Sam smiled, nodding before climbing in.

"Yeah I wasn't planning on it. We've had enough spaghetti to last us throughout the rest of Italy's existence." He joked before pulling the door closed. Stepping back Jenner waved, smiling brightly.

"Thank you!"

"Anytime!" Joyce called back out as she pulled out, making her way back down the street. Things were silent as Sam sat awkwardly in the back seat, not making eye contact. "So how old are you Sam?" Joyce questioned after a long few minutes of silence, looking up at the boy in the back seat through the rear-view mirror.

"18 ma'am." Sam replied, licking his lips a bit hesitantly.

"Oh? Bill is right around that age as well," She smiled brightly. "I'm glad to see that there are more kids Bill's age, now he doesn't have to worry about hanging out with the same people all of the time." She stopped at a stop light, waiting.

"It doesn't seem like there are very many kids in Little Stempington." Sam admitted. "But I don't want him to feel obligated of hanging out with me just because." He chuckled dryly. "I mean, I don't want to be a burden..."

"Oh no, it wouldn't be a burden at all." Bill smiled, looking back. "I mean I like meeting new people and the more people I have to talk to the merrier." He was silent for a moment, before opening his mouth again. "I couldn't help but notice..." He turned in his seat a bit to get a better look at the boy sitting in the back seat. "You have an American accent?"

"Ah, yes," Sam smiled. "I lived with my father in Montana on the Blackfeet Reservation. We uh...we we decided to relocate when Dad got a better contract here. Although most of his work will be in London and Mom has her job back in the states." he explained.

"What does your dad do for a living?" Joyce questioned, pulling up outside of the sports store, putting the car in park.

"He's a model." Sam replied, looking at her. "Not a _huge_ or well known one but he does some modeling jobs. Mom is a Wildlife Journalist; she also does a lot of traveling to places like Africa or Peru." He added.

"Oh really? Bill just got back from Africa as a missionary." Joyce beamed brightly. She liked this boy already, he seemed smart and well mannered. He wasn't from the UK so he was well diverse and interesting. Now if only she could wish for Bill to develops a partial taste in boys...

"That sounds great," Sam smiled, looking at Bill, teetering a bit so the blonde wouldn't have to twist himself up as bad to make eye contact. "Did you get to learn any of their languages? I hear that they have over a couple thousand different ones."

"Not really," Bill admitted. "I did more of the construction and planning behind things. But I did learn a few things while there." He dragged his fingers through his hair a bit, itching the back of his head. "I mean I do know some, just enough to get me by but other than that...I did other things, like vaccines, teaching the children, trying to find a way to end the starvation or at least ease it."

"Were you in charge of spreading religion?" Joyce looked back, hearing almost a disappointed tone in the young boys voice. "Churches and...stuff like that?" Bill didn't answer right away, his mouth open as he dragged his hand across his pants, his gaze dropping to his lap.

"Not me personally, I mainly did the...missionary work to try and make a difference there. " He shifted, leaning his shoulder against the back of his seat. "I believe that...it's important for them to have something to have faith in. So the spread of Catholicism isn't entirely a bad thing." Sam looked at him for a long moment before smiling, hoping that they didn't get the wrong idea.

"I suppose not. Although it makes it seem like missionaries will only help them if they accept their religion. If they choose not to then they're screwed. But if they choose to follow it after the missionaries leave then it doesn't matter. It's up to them to choose what they believe in or not." Joyce and Bill were quiet for a long time before Sam spoke up, feeling awkward in their silence. "I'm not religious, and I have nothing against other people's religion. Just...I don't like the thought of forcing someone into believing something they don't want to." He fidgeted, playing with the bottom of his shirt.

"Oh I agree." Bill nodded. "We didn't force them into believing anything. Our main goal over there this time around was vaccines and education and attempting to relieve the starvation issues." He assured him, a smile coming to his lips. Sam nodded, happy to hear that.

"So it was mostly getting your hands dirty and living a simple life?" The boy joked, hoping to disperse the cloud of unease in the vehicle.

"Pretty much." Bill smiled in return. "But what was it like living on an Indian Reservation?" He questioned, turning to look at him again curiously. Sam hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and sighing.

"Oh jeez, well," He licked his lips, his eyebrows furrowing a bit. "I got a lot of hassle from people off the reservation for being a Native American, so I tried to stay on the reservation as much as possible. I occasionally left when it came to shopping or horse back riding."

"Oh you ride?" Joyce smiled, looking back at him as she shut the vehicle off. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, we had a stable and a few acres of land. It was my Grandfather's land to begin with, but he lent it to us and we housed some of the other residents horses there if they didn't have a place to keep them. They paid us money to keep them there and we fed them and kept them warm and if they wanted to ride them they could come to our land and ride in the corral. Eventually though I wanted to learn how to ride and Mom got me a couple of Stallions." He explained, looking at Joyce. "Is there any place here in Little Stempington for horses?"

"I believe there is a stable here that you can put your horses." Joyce replied, thinking about it.

"Oh good," Sam replied, digging into his pocket, pulling out his father's wallet. "I would hate to have to leave them behind." He licked his lips before looking out at the store. "Um, thank you, really for the ride. It means a lot."

"No problem dear. Would you like me to go through with you?" She grabbed her purse as Bill pushed his door open and climbed out.

"You really don't have to." Sam insisted, hesitating as the door slid open.

"Oh I don't mind at all, I have to pick up some things for dinner anyway." She smiled, climbing out as well. Sam dragged his tongue across his lips before climbing out, shutting the door behind him.

"I'll meet you back here when you're done?" Bill turned, pointing as he looked at his mother. Joyce looked at him curiously for a moment, clutching her purse to her, but nodded.

"Yes, we'll meet back here if you finish before us." Without much more to be said he turned and made his way inside. Joyce smiled heading a bit down the street to the supermarket, Sam following after her. She could tell that he felt a bit awkward, but she was hoping that if she did run into Camilla or Barbara they would see that she was showing him around instead of ditching -all the while ditching and using the boy as an excuse, although she would never admit it to herself. "I'm sorry if it all seems awkward," Joyce turned, grabbing a small trolley for the shopping. Sam looked up, removing his hands from his pockets as he grabbed a small basket. "I mean, you only just met us and here we are shopping." She smiled.

"It...it is a bit awkward." the boy admitted, tucking a little bit of the dark reddish hair that stuck out from the bottom of his hat behind his ear.

"It's just Little Stempington." She admitted. "Everyone here is very kind and it tends to rub off on people." She stopped in an aisle, looking over some sauces.

"I don't really mind it." The boy smiled, going a little farther down the aisle, looking at the dried beans. "It's better than at home." Leaning down he grabbed a few packages, tossing them into his hand cart. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant by what he'd said. "Some of the people would rather stab you in the face than say good morning to you."

"Oh dear," Joyce fumbled a bit, swallowing hard as an image of Jillian popped into her head. She immediately felt guilty, wishing that it would have been a different place than his old town, but in all reality, she knew that Little Stempington was more dangerous for him than his home town. Or at least a little more crazy. "I'm sure you'll be much safer here." She nodded, lying if only to give him and herself false hope.

After a few minutes, Sam had gathered everything he needed for his own meal and was left following Joyce around. A few moments after the banter stopped she spotted a sight that made her heart flutter. Off to the other end of the store was Hilary Davenport, dressed in a suggestive dress and chintzy looking jacket that looked as if a homosexual fairy threw up 20 pounds of glitter all over it. She waved, walking over. Joyce's heart fluttered in fear. Digging into her purse she pulled out the key to the car and turned to Sam. "Here you go, if you'd like you can put your stuff in the car and go wait with Bill. It might be a little while." She smiled, attempting to hide the uncertainty in her face. Sam looked at the key, then at her curiously, then looked up at the blonde as she approached.

"Joyce, what a surprise to see you here." Hilary smiled, her arms crossed, her fingers tucked beneath her chin delicately.

"Hello Hilary." Joyce replied, looking at her sternly, forcing a smile.

"How come you're not at the cafe? If I remember right Camilla wanted you there for the meeting." She smiled, her eyes predatorial almost before they landed on the young boy beside her. "Who is this pretty little thing?" She smirked, dropping her hands to her sides for a moment before crossing her arms in front of her abdomen, pushing her breasts together.

"This is the newest addition to Little Stempington." Joyce replied, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"Sam Gonyeau." The boy reached forward, holding his hand out. Hilary walked over, pulling him in for a hug.

"Welcome to Little Stempington." She pulled away, kissing either cheek. "My name is Hilary Davenport, and I feel, you and I will get along famously." She smiled brightly, winking. Swallowing, Sam nodded, forcing a smile before looking at Joyce.

"You sure you want me to go back to the car?" He questioned, wanting to take her up on her offer, but it was obvious that Joyce didn't like this Hilary Davenport, even though her expression and reaction said otherwise. He could see it in her eyes.

"If you want to." Joyce smiled, looking back at him. "Give Bill someone to talk to while I get the rest of the things for dinner." Sam didn't say much past telling Hilary it was nice to meet her then turning and heading to the check out with his items. He felt bad, leaving Joyce behind to deal with the blonde, but chances are she had more experience with her likes and he really didn't want to be caught in the middle of their conversation. He just wasn't ready for that.

Once checked out he made his way out of the store and headed back to the car. Noting that Bill hadn't returned yet, he pulled open the back door and put his few bags of beans, sausage, tomato sauce and onion's in the back, tying the bag off to make sure nothing would roll out onto the carpeting. Pulling the door closed he stuffed the key in his pocket and turned, heading inside the sports store, figuring that he could give it a look through while he was there.

The inside of the store was relatively small, a few selections for a wide variety of different activities. Cricket and Rugby, biking, fishing, hunting -bullets and guns were locked away in a case behind the desk. Football shin pads and athletic cups as well as cleats and helmets. He walked in, giving the small selections a look over, going up and down the aisles until he came across Bill, checking out the bike chains almost vacantly. He stared at the selection, biting his lip, one hand running through his hair as he sighed.

"Having difficulty?" Sam stepped up, his hands stuffed into his pockets. Bill looked up, slightly startled, but smiled as the boy approached.

"A little. There are a few different kinds of chains and I'm...not sure...which one I should choose." He admitted, looking back at the selection.

"What kind of brand of bike do you have?" Sam questioned, starting to thumb through the different types of chains.

"A...Barracuda Sawtooth. 20" Frame, 26" wheel with 21 speed, front suspension Mountain bike with front and rear disc brakes- I..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry." He bit his lip, feeling a bit foolish.

"No, no it's fine." Sam replied. "21 speed? How are the gears?" He questioned, looking back at him only briefly before flipping through to some chains in the back. Settling on one he pulled it off, choosing one of the cheaper ones before handing it to him.

"Gears work great." Bill replied, looking approvingly at him before taking the chain and looking it over. "It's worked smooth ever since we got it."

"How much did that cost?" The blonde inhaled deeply, his lips pressing together tightly as he thought back on when he bought it.

"Oh uh..." He licked his lips, his eyebrows knitting as he shook his head, his mouth open. "240 Euro's?" He guessed, not really knowing. Sam's jaw dropped, his eyes eyebrows furrowing in shock.

"240? I mean, I don't know...jack about bikes over here, I mean it's probably built to withstand everything better than ours are, but 240 Euro's? That's like...330 some odd US dollars. I mean, it could be off a bit, I'm horrible at conversions." He rubbed his nose a bit. "It's more that I paid for mine that's for sure." He added at the end.

"What kind of bike do you have?" Bill questioned, curiously.

"Um...26" Roadmaster Granite Peak Mountain bike. 18 speed, 26" wheels. Alloy." He licked his lips, thinking back on the bike he had brought with him; the bike that was stashed away in the back of the moving truck at home.

"How much did you pay for that?" Bill questioned, figuring that they seemed similar enough just by basic description. It had to have been about at least 180 euros.

"Um...90 US?" He looked at him.

"Which is..." Bill licked his lips, looking off attempting to do the conversion in his head, being even worse at it than Sam proved to be.

"I think...65 Euro's?" Sam's face twisted, not completely sure. Bill's jaw dropped, looking almost as if he'd been insulted before looking at the bike chain in his hand."As I said, your bike is probably made of better materials and stuff. Probably last longer too." The boy looked at him, apologetically.

"I paid almost triple for a bike." He muttered. Reaching up Sam patted his shoulder before walking to another section of the store.

"Are there any good trails to walk here?" he questioned, looking through at hiking boots and water bottles.

"There are a few good ones around. I haven't been on too many, not since I got here at least." Bill made his way over, looking at the hiking gear as well. "We've only just moved here ourselves." He admitted much to the tanned boys surprise.

"Really?" He turned, looking at him. Only then did he notice that Bill was taller by a foot or so which was a bit embarrassing. "Your mom seems like she knows the place like the back of her hand." He picked up a pair on under=armour that had managed to drift from the rugby section to the hiking.

"She probably does." Bill agreed. "She spends a lot of her time with Camilla Diamond and Barbara Du Prez. They organize most of the events here in Little Stempington from what I'd seen so far."

"Events?" Sam looked at him, cocking an eyebrow.

"Charities, dances and bake sales." He picked up a water bottle, looking it over.

"I see." The shorter boy turned, looking at everything, making a mental note to come back some other time. He didn't say anything, only turning around when he noticed Bill pull away from the shelves.

"Did...you want to keep looking or..." He trailed off, pointing at the shelves. "I have everything I need."

"Nope, I am...good." Sam gave the shelf a quick look over before smiling and pulling away. He followed Bill to the front of the store, staring idly as the blonde dished out the money for chain. Suddenly his hands went to his head, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"I need the tool to take the chain off, I forgot we lost ours in the move." He pulled away from the counter, digging through his wallet for more money.

"My dad has one you can borrow." The shorter boy spoke up, looking at him concerned. "Hell, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you kept it." Bill looked up confused for a moment before stuttering.

"A-are you sure?" Sam couldn't help but smile at the large blue eyes. They seemed innocent, kind. He liked it, even though it made him feel a bit guilty.

"Yeah, we have like...3 of them anyway and I'm the only one who rides a bike. And I don't even do it that often." He admitted, nodding to sign that the cashier was waiting. Bill didn't say anything, putting the money in the guys hand. He wanted to thank Sam but he felt awkward. Here he'd just met this boy and already he was getting things from him. He felt irresponsible. Taking the change back from the guy he turned and put it in Sam's hand. The Native American stared down at the money curiously before looking back at the blonde.

"It's not much, but I can't just take it from you." Bill replied, noting the curious look in the shorter boys eyes. Sam licked his lips a bit and smiled, nodding.

"Fair enough." Smiling, happy that his offer was accepted, Bill turned and pushed the door open, heading out to the car, Sam on his heels.

Joyce stood in the check out, feeling frazzled from a long discussion with Hilary, laced with threats. She had been excused from the meeting -courtesy of a phone call to Camilla- on account of her taking pro-active steps to introducing the new neighbors to the neighborhood. But she was expected to do some over time over the next couple of days.

Paying for her groceries, Joyce wheeled the trolley out, smiling when she saw Bill and Sam talking. At least Bill didn't have to deal with what she was going through. At least there was that. "So did you two find everything you needed?" She questioned pulling the trolley to a stop. Sam dug into his pocket, handing her the keys. "Thank you." She smiled, taking them and opening the back door, putting the items she'd bought in the back.

"I got my bike chain." Bill smiled, helping her load things in. Sam moved to do so as well but stopped when Joyce grabbed the last of the bags. Turning he went to grab the trolley to bring it back but found an employee already 3 steps ahead of him.

"And I had a nice look around." Sam admitted, feeling oddly useless as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets.

"That's great." Joyce smiled, shutting the door once she was sure Bill hand his hands out of the way. "Little Stempington has great places to witness nature. Woods, rivers, places to go camping." She tugged the back door to make sure it was closed all the way. Bill turned and pulled the sliding door open for Sam before opening his own door.

"Thank you." Sam whispered, climbing in before pulling it shut. Bill climbed in the front seat as Joyce started the car.

"Do you jog?" She questioned, looking back at him. Sam looked at her curiously, a bit baffled at the question, but answered anyway, fidgeting.

"Yeah, sometimes."

"You and I should go jogging sometime." Bill smiled. "I can introduce you to Jewel and we can all just...hang out and enjoy nature." He looked back, an almost romantic look in his eye as he continued. "The three of us, just getting to know each other. We could go fishing, I mean, we could teach Jewel to fish. And then after that we could talk. You could tell us about what you like and how living in the states was and we could tell you about us." His excitement seemed very genuine, bringing a warm smile to Sam's face. He never knew that living in a foreign country would be so different than how it was at home. Everyone seemed so nice, even if it did push the boundaries of normality, and he couldn't help but wonder if Bill was a hippie or not, but it didn't matter to him really. "Unless, that's going to fast." Bill added after a moment, catching a look of uncertainty in the young boys eyes.

"No! No it's just," Sam pressed his lips together, searching for a good way to explain it to him without causing a pity party. "I'm not...used to this whole thing." He admitted. Bill looked at him confused, his eyes almost vacant.

"Fishing?" Sam laughed, shaking his head. The blonde's cluelessness was adorable, he had to admit that.

"No, the uh..." He licked his lips, his face twisting a bit as he averted his eyes. "Friends, thing." He trailed off, the car silent as they continued, making their way down the street. "I've...never had friends." He laughed dryly before swallowing back any stray feelings.

"What? Why not?" The blonde looked at him as if the very thought of someone not having friends was the worst thing in the world. Having been used to it, Sam shrugged his shoulders. It didn't really bother him, not when he didn't even live in the states anymore.

"I don't know, people just didn't find me interesting enough I guess." he replied, not really putting too much thought into it.

"You had no friends at all?" Bill pushed, looking back at the foreign boy, wondering how no one could find him interesting then realized his prying could be considered rude. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, I'm just..."

"No, I know." Sam forced a smile. Licking his lips he looked up, staring at the hood of the car, trying to figure out how to word things. "I had a few people I used to talk to," he admitted after a few moments of silence. "But when Dad pulled me out of school I lost contact with them."

"Why were you pulled out of school?" It was Joyce's turn to ask, having never thought that the boy could have been a school dropout. Not when he seemed so smart.

"Uh...very personal reasons." He muttered, starting to feel ashamed at where the conversation was heading.

"That's not right, I mean you should have hundreds of friends." Bill looked at him. Sam couldn't help but smile, not wanting to listen to the same fake sounding spiel that everyone gave him, and he knew that it was only because they wanted to feel better about themselves. "I mean, you're interesting and you're smart and you're nice."

"And I'm beautiful." Sam smiled, joking. Bill laughed, nodding.

"Gorgeous." He fidgeted a bit, looking out the windshield as they started coming up on Sam's house, his father still outside, bringing some things into the garage. "If I had more friends like you where I last lived, I don't think I would have been able to move away as easily as I had."

Sam's smile faded, looking at the blonde's face in the side mirror, seeing that he was completely serious. He began to feel a bit guilty. He had been in a place where he had to second guess everything for so long, he forgot what it was like to have someone who was genuine. The people, the kids he grew up around, none of them were genuine. He had been a few of their friends, but in the end he ended up stabbed in the back or became the talk of the town. Not one of them ever spoke to Sam as Bill did, and he felt a tremendous amount of respect for him.

"I'll be right back." He grabbed his groceries and climbed out of the van. Joyce looked after him as he ran his way to the garage. After a moment Sam returned from scrummaging through a box. "Here," he smiled, handing it to Bill. The blondes eyes lit up as he turned, grabbing the tool from him.

"Thank you." He looked it over.

"No problem," Sam smiled as he pulled away, his bag hanging from his fingers. "Thank you for giving me a ride. Oh! Dad wants me to ask, this Friday we should all be moved in and Mom will be up to visit on break, would you, Mr. Hazeldine and Bill like to come to dinner? It won't be anything huge, just a small one." Bill smiled at the thought and looked back at his mother, wondering if she would like the idea.

Joyce smiled, thinking it over for a few moments, her hands dropping to her lap as she did. "It sounds lovely, I'll have to talk it over with Jeremy." She replied, looking back up at the boy. Sam smiled, a small flutter of excitement rushing through him as he pulled away.

"Great, I hope you can make it." He looked at the bag in his hand as a loud thud sounded from the garage, causing the boy to wince. "I should go make sure he doesn't kill himself." He laughed, shaking his head. "See you and drive carefully!"

"Thank you!" Joyce waved, watching him turn his back on them to help Jenner with a few boxes. She was hoping that Jenner really did only invite her family; it would be a nice change to not have to eat a meal wondering if the other party members were going to try to kill the other or seduce her husband. She would have to stop over later to see if be needed any help planning or unpacking. After all of her chores for the gangs were complete, of course.


End file.
